VOLVO NAMED BEST DESIGN AWARD WINNER BY AUTO EXPRESS READERS
The Volvo Concept Estate car that made its debut earlier this year at the Geneva Motor Show has been named the year’s best automotive design by Auto Express readers.
The concept, which previews Volvo’s new design direction and its forthcoming all-new XC90 SUV, was named Best Design award winner during its New Car Awards 2014 ceremony in London last night.
The Volvo Concept Estate triumphed in a hotly contested category, beating competition from 14 rival designs, including the Jaguar F-Type, BMW i8 and Land Rover Discovery Vision Concept.
The interior of the car attracted particular praise for its simple, elegant design, which removes visual clutter from the cabin by minimising the number of buttons on the fascia and replacing them with an intuitive touch-screen located in the centre of the dash. This, together with the use of high quality, natural materials – including an Orrefors crystal gearlever – are all themes that will be reflected in the luxurious interior design of the new Volvo XC90, to be revealed in August.
British-born Robin Page, Director of Interior Design at Volvo Car Group, accepted the Best Design award trophy at the ceremony, saying: "I am delighted to receive this award, on behalf of the design team, in recognition of the successful design of the Volvo Concept Estate. This concept was created to illustrate our new design language, enabling the world to have an insight into our future design vision."
Steve Fowler, Editor-in-Chief of Auto Express, said: “Our readers’ reaction to the recent Volvo concepts, especially the Volvo Concept Estate, bodes well for the next generation of Volvos starting with the new XC90. And we have to agree with our readers – the Concept Estate is one of the most striking cars we’ve seen for a very long time and certainly one of the best designed Volvos.”
The all-new Volvo XC90 will be the first car built on Volvo’s new SPA (Scalable Product Architecture) platform and will feature the new range of efficient four-cylinder Drive-E petrol and diesel engines.
The flagship model will be a new twin engine plug-in hybrid model, badged T8, that is an electric car, a hybrid car and a high performance car rolled into one. It will offer up to 400hp but have carbon dioxide emissions of around 60g/km (NEDC cycle) – making it the world’s most powerful and cleanest SUV.
UK buyers will also be able to have the all-wheel-drive, seven-seat XC90 with a choice of two highly fuel efficient diesel engines – a 190hp D4 (up to 57mpg on combined cycle) and a 225hp D5 model (47mpg combined).
The all-new Volvo XC90 will be revealed to the world in August.
-ends-
